Tenant Stories: Why Managed Properties in Hobart Are a Safer Bet

Managed properties in Hobart save both tenants and landlords a lot of hassle and frustration. We recently published a “tenants from hell” story, but even the best tenants have their share of horror stories to tell – and this time, it’s the landlord who is to blame. The costliest of the mistakes a tenant can make, it seems, is to rent and repair. Patricia and Fred share their stories.

Patricia: “The Landlord Doubled my Rent After I Turned a Hovel into a Home”

Patricia had been retrenched from her previous job, but managed to find a new one in Hobart. That meant she had to relocate, and as we all know, that can be an expensive business. During a house hunting visit, she found a dilapidated cottage that the property owner was willing to rent out for a song.

“My heart sank,” she says. “It was cheap, but there was black mould growing on the interior walls and the geyser must have burst at some point and broken through the ceiling, because there was a large hole there. The outside looked as bad, and what passed for a garden was in an absolute state.”

After some heart-searching and a bit of research, Patricia decided that even if she only stayed for two years, the renovations would cost less than spending more on a properly managed property.

“I took a weekend, rounded up a bunch of friends, and we piled in. We went crazy with the interior, and by the end of the weekend, we had blitzed the mould and given everything a fresh coat of paint. We even hung pelmets because the cottage didn’t have any and we replaced the damaged ceiling board too.”

But Patricia still wasn’t happy with the exterior of the cottage: “I like things neat,” she explains “So I used all my free time getting the outside painted and then started in on the garden.” Slowly but surely, she transformed the dilapidated cottage into a place she was proud to call home.

Then the bombshell struck: “The landlord noticed that the place was looking nice, and he decided he could get more rent for it – so he doubled the rent without warning. I didn’t have a proper lease, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it.”

“Suddenly, my cheap little cottage was more expensive than a decent rental elsewhere. Well, you can guess what I did. I hired a managed property in Hobart through Baxton, and got a gorgeous spot with extra space I could use for student accommodation. In the end, I was paying less than I’d paid before, but I’m still bitter about all the money I spent renovating that cottage!”

Fred: “I Got Evicted After Spending on Improvements”

Fred has a similar story to tell. At first, his landlord was only too happy for him to have the house for next-to-nothing – provided he fixed it up. “I enjoy renovating,” he says “and I was led to believe that I would have a long-term tenure, so I really pulled out all the stops. I even built a little loft bedroom with a flight of stairs that was a feature all on its own.”

“The landlord was very interested in all the improvements that were underway, and I was only too happy to show him because I was proud of what I had done. My mistake was to trust a verbal contract which turned out to be worth less than the paper it wasn’t written on! He was just spying out the land, waiting for the moment he could say “Job finished,” and kick me out.”

In the end, the property owner decided that the refurbished house would be a great spot for a family member to live, and began an eviction process. “I wanted to fight it,” says Fred “So I hung on for as long as I could, but I soon saw I was going to lose out, and my landlord did everything he could to make my life uncomfortable as long as I was still there.”

Get Managed Property in Hobart – Because Fair’s Fair!

Stories like these make us proud of the work we do. We offer a fair deal to both property owners and tenants. Everybody knows exactly where they stand, and tenants can be sure of getting a well-maintained property. If anything goes wrong, we’re there from them, and repairs and maintenance covered by our lease agreements never cost the tenant a cent.

Don’t get taken in by a “good deal” on a place you’ll have to fix up – it’s not your property, and it could be money down the drain. A managed property in Hobart allows tenants to move in and get comfortable right away: the only surprises you’ll get are pleasant ones!

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The information contained in this article is based on the authors opinion only and is of a general nature which is not indicative of future results or events and does not consider your personal situation or particular needs. Professional advice should always be sought relevant to your circumstances.